The Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right party, won the state elections last Sunday in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The result represents a new institutional test for European democracies.
Saxony-Anhalt has 2.1 million inhabitants, which corresponds to only 2.5% of the German population. Despite the state's small size, the electoral result raises a warning sign, especially because Germany was the birthplace of Nazism.
The country is also the largest economy in the European Union, which makes the voters' shift toward the far right an event of continental relevance. The result confirms the importance of issues such as immigration, nationalism, and cultural wars in the German and European political landscape.
